FREE CONSULTATION!
Your free consultation is not a lesson. It is an opportunity for for us to chat and see if we are a good fit. (No obligation).
It’s also an evaluation so I can determine how to help you. That includes me understanding what style of music you like, and what musical direction you want to pursue.
I will also provide you with a package of my “Lesson Plans.”
For beginners the consultation includes:
1. Checking your guitar’s Intonation & Action. I want you to learn on an instrument that’s comfortable for you to play.
2. If you don’t have a guitar, I will help you figure out what kind of guitar to buy, based on your musical preferences.
All lessons are customized to meet your needs and expectations. I am patient so you can learn at your own pace. I additionally supply lesson printouts for you to practice at home.
lesson plan
SONGS & RIFFS
- Most styles taught
CHORDS: AN INTRODUCTION
- Open forms
- Barred forms
- (For advanced chording see THEORY below)
HOW TO READ
- Chord charts and “mapping”
- Tablature (Tabs)
- Chord and scale diagrams
LEFT HAND TECHNIQUE
- Proper hand-to-neck placement
- Logical fingering
RIGHT HAND TECHNIQUE
- Strumming patterns
- Flat picking techniques
- Economy vs Alternate picking
- Sweep picking
- Hybrid picking
- Speed picking
- Finger picking
- Finger tapping
HOLDING THE GUITAR
- The ergonomically correct way
- Other approaches
PRACTICE TIPS
- Effective exercises
- Schedule routines that work
- Create your own exercises
BLUES CONCEPTS
- Learn the roots to Rock & Roll, Metal, Country, Jazz and all
“Americana”- dominate chords in Blues
- basic Blues progressions:
- I-IV-V, i-iv-v, i-iv-V, i-IV-V
- altered Blues progressions
- Blues shuffles
- swing beats (triplets)
- the Blues scale (5+1)
- combining the major pentatonic with the minor pentatonic
- Mixo-Blusian (Mixolydian scale combined with Blues scale)
FRETBOARD MAPPING
- Memory tricks to note location
- The CAGED system
- Three notes per string system
- Other systems
- Thinking outside of the box
IMPROVISING (How to jam)
- Finding the “key”
- Selecting the right scale
- Licks:
- bends (several intervals)
- hammer-ons
- pull-offs
- slides
- double stops
- expressive vibratos
- passing tones
- Lead or soloing concepts:
- phrasing and note clustering
- avoiding the “linear” trap
- imitation phrasing
- dynamics (human vs electric)
- pitch axis
- playing “out”
MUSIC THEORY
- Single notes
- Intervals
- Scale studies:
- scale terminology and formulas
- diatonic scale
- pentatonic scales
- septatonic scales
- Modes:
- Ionian
- Dorian
- Phrygian
- Lydian
- Mixolydian
- Aeolian
- Locrian
- altered modes
- other scales:
- Diminished
- Augmented
- Harmonic Minor
- Whole tone, etc
- foreign and exotic scales
- thinking outside of the box
- scale terminology and formulas
- Chord studies:
- basic triads (why 3rds?)
- bass root notes
- power chords and other dyads
- chord inversions
- chord extensions:
- 7ths, 9ths, 11ths & 13ths
- the 3 chord families
- “slash” chords
- altered chords
- stacked 4ths or 5ths
- arpeggios (guitar & bass)
- Chord progression studies:
- diatonic progressions
- modal progressions
- progressions based on the pentatonic scale
- “tension-release” progressions
- chromatic progressions
- Keys:
- tonal centers
- matching chords with scales
- circle of 5ths
- modulating
- Compositional concepts:
- analyzing song structures
- creative thinking
- Breaking the rules of Theory
- How to put it all together
EAR TRAINING
- How to “pull out” the chords in a recording
- Identifying intervals, scales, chords and progressions through:
- “emotional” association
- “shade intensity” association
- “artist use” association
ALTERNATE TUNINGS
- Drop D
- Open tuning families:
- open D (or E) & variations of
- open G (or A) & variations of
- open C or variations of
- Other tunings
SHOP TALK & GEAR INFO
- This section is for students who want to better understand how different equipment works. Learn how a variety of construction methods, employed by manufacturers, affect the tone & feel of guitars, amps & effects.
INSTRUMENT CARE
- Cleaning and re-stringing:
- electric guitars
- steel string acoustic guitars
- nylon string guitars
- bass guitars
- How to adjust the Truss Rod
BAND COACHING
- This section is for students who’s band needs musical coaching during rehearsals. My rate is the same as my lesson rate.
pricing
private lessons
- 50 minutes – $50.00
- 25 minutes – $25.00 (25 min. for small children only)
group lessons available
free consultation
No obligation.
about robert jones
Music has always been at the forefront of my life. Born in Manhattan, New York City, my earliest musical influences include THE BEATLES. When I was about 4 my sister used to play RUBBER SOUL. 'Til this day, I play my own version of NORWEGIAN WOOD.
By the age of 10, I began tinkering around with guitars. Friends showed me a few chords and I purchased a book to teach myself scales and songs, like SPANISH ROMANCE. That song helped me learn a finger-picking technique that I still use. At 13, I was finally able to purchase my very own guitar, a 12 string acoustic guitar that I still own.
CONTACT ROBERT
ADDRESS
Robert Jones Guitar
2314-B Fourth Street
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
PHONE
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